Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----for hospital care for the region. That is very clear to me. I was in the emergency department, as the Deputy will be aware, around midnight. I was back in the emergency department the next morning. The staff are incredible, but too much is being asked of them and far too many patients are not getting access to ward beds when they need them. It is not a sustainable or acceptable situation. It is something that is very dear to the heart of every person working in that hospital. I met the nurses, the non-consultant hospital doctors, the consultants and the management. They are all working night and day to resolve that situation.

I was in Croom, where there is absolutely incredible work being done in orthopaedics. They have the most advanced operating theatres anywhere in Ireland and their throughput is higher now. It was really amazing stuff to see. The Deputy quite rightly raised the issue of whether there can be an elective site for the Limerick area. I believe there can be. The three elective hospitals-----